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Buying the right equipment for MMA beginners

Like any high school student, I have aspirations beyond finishing college and living in my own house independently from my parents. Oh, I’d also love to drive my own car someday, and have a high paying job. However, since those are just too far in the horizon as of now, let me just be content aspiring to become a professional MMA fighter. MMA fighters enjoy fame, prestige, a good name (which my father would surely love), and plenty of opportunities for training and changing the world one fight at a time. This blog serves to record my progress towards this end.

Buying the right equipment for MMA beginners

What do you have in your MMA gym bag? The perfect MMA gear setup includes quite a number of elements to ensure peak performance as well as protection and support. I really recommend starting your search from here.

These are what should be in your MMA training gear collection:

MMA apparel

MMA is well-represented in grappling shorts. Boasting a cool appearance blended with comfort, grappling shorts are one of the most evolved MMA gear on the market. They display your own personality as an MMA fighter. Basketball shorts won’t do since they are mostly made of cotton that tends to absorb and hold sweat. Imagine the icky feeling you will be imposing on your partner with sweaty shorts. You also don’t want to cause harm to your opponent with Velcro or laces that can cause scrapes and abrasion. Grappling shorts, on the other hand, come with more room in the legs, promoting better flexibility and mobility on the mat. You want comfort and fit.

Rash guards are not worn in MMA fights but they do protect the body against abrasion and rashes when rolling around the mat working on your ground play. A rash guard provides body insulation so you can shed water to help you get to the weight class you aspire for. It also shields you from mat burns, bruises and cuts.

Protective gear

Hand wraps are made both for support and protection. They protect your fists or knuckles, hands and wrists from injury or fracture, as well as wrist sprain or twisting if you accidentally make ill connection with your opponent, a sparring dummy or punching bag. While standard hand wraps come at 180 inches, those for strawweight or flyweight fighters come at 120 inches. Hand wraps in the 180-inch category allow double and triple wrapping for more support on the wrists and hands.

Since you are open to some heavy and dangerous kicks during training or fights, it’s essential to wear shin guards, which start below the kneecap and extend down past the ankle to cover the top of the foot. This delivers a fully-encased area covering the lower part of your body. Some premium shin guards wrap around toward the back of the calves while others simply protect the front section of your shin. You want quality shin guards since they provide a safer and better alternative to kicking bare legged.

A mouth guard not only prevents you from having your teeth damaged during a blow to the mouth but can also help mitigate the effects of concussion by absorbing some shock. It also helps guard against oral laceration, as when you bite down your tongue when a kick to the jaw is delivered by your opponent.

It pays to have a groin protector on in the event you get kicked in the pelvic region of your body. Bear in mind that MMA fighting involves ground game and sprawling so knee pads are necessary.

A good pair of knee pads protects the joints and the skin on your knees to prevent knee injury.

Training gear
Specialized MMA gloves are not necessary worn on a daily basis. On most occasions, you are better off with just hand wraps. That being said, when buying MMA gloves, consider the weight, typically between 4 and 5 ounces. For speed, lighter gloves are ideal. For endurance, heavy gloves fit the bill.